Speaking on the Future of Word Peace Advocacy at Rotary International's NYC Club

As part of my renewed effort to find partners for The World Of Our Dreams, I spoke about the future of World Peace advocacy (the use of Systems Thinking to figure out an effective plan for getting to that "more perfect place") on April 13, 2017 at Rotary International's NYC Club.

More information on Rotary can be found here. But in brief, the organization has been around for over 100 years and consists of people dedicated to doing good... to making a difference.... in whatever ways they are drawn to doing so.  Rotary was involved in the founding of the United Nations in 1945, and the NYC Club has strong ties to the UN to this date, which is one reason I was so honored to speak at their luncheon.

Here's the video of my talk, which runs about 36 minutes long including the introduction by NYC Club board member Larry Cohen.

And here is a link to the slides (including the brief videos) I used, if you'd like to look through them at your own pace.

First Post-Convention Update

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Thank you for responding so positively to the public unveiling of The World Of Our Dreams’ vision at Star Trek: Mission New York. 

Teaching and popularizing that World Peace is possible thanks to scientific advancement is a dream I have been working on for many years.  And now - thanks to your enthusiastic responses - I have the "proof of concept” I need to say this is an idea whose time has come!  I will be forever grateful for our interactions at the convention!

Please let me know any additional thoughts or questions you’ve had since then.  I’m also interested in any conversations you’ve had with family, friends, or co-workers about The World Of Our Dreams.  I want to support you in being able to speak about it, even at this early “in development" phase. You can watch a video of me speaking at the convention booth here… (It’s just 2 minutes long. Great for sharing with others!)

Since the convention, The World Of Our Dreams’ development phase has continued:

- I attended the 50th anniversary celebration of Star Trek at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, where Rod Roddenberry announced the Roddenberry Prize: $1,000,000 total for “ideas for a boldly better future". https://roddenberryprize.org  I also participated in the costume contest (as Gary Seven with Isis the cat) and received special recognition for my choice of characters from Bjo and John Trimble, the couple that started the letter writing campaign that got the original Star Trek its third season.

- I published an essay in The Huffington Post on Sept 8th to celebrate Star Trek’s 50th by describing how it can help us have a better world for real. You can read that essay, “Oblivion or Utopia: Star Trek & Humanity" here.

- I attended the 50th anniversary celebration of Star Trek at the Paley Center for Media here in NYC, where I was interviewed by a local TV station and met the Executive VP for CBS Consumer Products. While my interview did not make it into the final report as it was aired, I have learned more about what it will take to partner with CBS from the Executive VP for CBS Consumer Products.

- I networked with people interested in gender equality in the media, at an event organized by the actress Geena Davis, who has an institute devoted to this issue. Google is helping develop a way of measuring the visual screen time, speaking time, and numbers in crowd scenes of women and men.  That was just one of the fascinating developments discussed at this event, where I spoke with both Google's "Educator in Chief" and a high ranking person at Sesame Workshop (home of the Muppets) about my plans.  Both are interested in following up, and the person from the Muppets said they had been discussing the idea of "Muppet diplomacy" already. The character of Lt. Uhura was such a ground-breaking, gender and racial equality part of the original series, I believe Geena Davis's institute is a potential partner for The World Of Our Dreams, especially since the lead character of the new Star Trek series is going to be female.  (I mentioned this to Geena, and she had not heard this exciting news before.)

- I signed up for the pre-proposal online event for people planning to submit entries for the Roddenberry Prize

- I published another Huffington Post essay that targeted people following the presidential election, in order to show them there is more to think about than who wins in November. I say the results of that election are important, but I then quickly shift to how much more important it is to think about humanity's long term options.  You can read that essay here.

- I have set up a GoFundMe fundraising campaign, to help me pay for the start up costs I've incurred so far and will incur to get The World Of Our Dreams up and running legally. A second fundraising campaign which I thought would accept PayPal will be deactivated because it turns out not to allow that form of payment. Apologies to anyone who wants to use PayPal to make a contribution.

In addition to meeting with my lawyer and accountant (to get the legal side of The World Of Our Dreams moving forward), these are my main accomplishments since we met.  I will write again soon, with information about a first training opportunity (to take place in Manhattan, probably in late October)

What I ask from you at this point is this:

- Please send me stories / your thoughts since we met / questions, as I mentioned at the beginning of this message.

- Please share this news with others (I’ve attached a PDF of the flyer and Buckminster Fuller quote that were at the booth, for your use)

- Please let me know if you’d like to be a board member of The World Of Our Dreams.  (If so, please suggest some good times when we can talk by phone about that.)

- Please donate to one of the fundraising campaigns, if you are financially able to do so; and please share them with others as well.

Thank you again for wanting the future of peace on Earth portrayed in Star Trek to happen for real!  The forces of anti-intellectualism are strong in America right now, but we can teach people that they are fighting over things they no longer need to fight about!  We can teach them that advances in science has made war obsolete! We have the knowledge to create the world of our dreams!

Live Long And Prosper!

Steve

PS  Due to slight technical difficulties on my part, I am tweeting about The World Of Our Dreams using my @SteveBrant Twitter account.  I hope to switch to @WPeaceByDesign soon

Oblivion or Utopia: Star Trek and Humanity

Originally published in The Huffington Post on September 8, 2016

Over the years, I have pointed people to a book published in 1955 by Milton Meyer, “They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933-1945”, because I feared people in America didn’t realize they were sliding towards the same political cliff. If you want to read more about that book, here’s a good link. 

But today, it’s not just a political cliff we are sliding towards (as dangerous as that cliff may be). It’s an overall cultural cliff. The social fabric of society is coming apart: Dysfunctional behavior has been treated as “normal” by the entertainment industry for some time (think: Reality TV).

False equivalency reporting has given equal time to climate change deniers and others who live in a fact / science-free world. They are allowed to lie to the American people without anyone pointing out that what they are saying is wrong.

There is a war on science.

There is an assault on reason.

White supremacists are getting interviewed on CNN because they support Donald Trump, as if their viewpoints should be given commentary-free airtime. This is normalizing their beliefs.

The culture of hate is taking over the internet.

This list could be longer, but I trust I’ve made my point.

We are headed for Oblivion. Not just the political but the overall social fabric of society is heading for collapse.

And into the poisonous brew of all-conflict all-the-time comes a new Star Trek series, Star Trek: Discovery.

This is no mere new TV show. This is a critically important cultural development. Here’s why…

The oblivion we are headed for has parallels in the catastrophic situations the crew of the Enterprise faced time and time again. But through the combined bravery and teamwork of that crew - including often remarkable acts of ingenuity by a crew member or the captain himself - they avoided death… and that’s what you and I need to do today! And that’s what I hope Star Trek: Discovery teaches a new generation of viewers (while also reinforcing those lessons in older series fans like me).

There’s a wonderful scene in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan in which we learn how Captain Kirk beat the “no win scenario” of the Kobayashi Maru test while a Starfleet Academy cadet. It’s a test in which all Starfleet cadets normally get to experience the destruction of their ship and the loss of many crewmates because there’s no way to win. But cadet James T. Kirk won.

“I reprogramming the simulation so it was possible to rescue the ship,” Captain Kirk tells Lt. Saavik, whose ship was destroyed when she took the test. “I changed the conditions of the test. I got a commendation for original thinking… I don’t like to lose… I don’t believe in a no-win scenario.”

Here’s the scene, in which Kirk also avoids a real-life no-win scenario…

Captain Kirk doesn’t like to lose. Well, neither do I!

Oblivion can be avoided now… by us… for real… starting right now!

And – in a case of life imitates art – avoiding oblivion today will also require “reprogramming the simulation”… this time of the world in which we live. It will require we consciously, creatively and pro-actively take control of the design of the human social system in which we live!

Yes, this isn’t a simulation we’re dealing with, but it still involves a programming change… a change in the mental programming we all live with every day in our real lives. We must design a better system… a better frame of reference for the world around us… one that enables us to win… one that enables everyone to win.

I’m a civil engineer, project and program manager by training and profession. And believe me when I tell you that the hard science of sustainable development coupled with the soft science of conflict resolution and win-win negotiations can give us the world of our dreams... the world envisioned by Star Trek... global peace and prosperity for all!

The passengers and crew of the “spaceship” in which we are travelling… not of the Enterprise… but this beautiful living Spaceship Earth (so named by the philosopher Buckminster Fuller but also familiar to visitors to Disney World) can all make it! We can beat the no-win scenario we are being fed today!

I know I’m talking about reality not simulation, but the redesign process ahead of us is remarkably similar to that of a computer game… once you realize just how much control we have over the “software” and the “input parameters” of our world. In his landmark TV series “The Day the Universe Changed,” British historian James Burke said “You see what your knowledge tells you you’re seeing. And when that knowledge changes, for you the universe changes.”

This new system starts with us… with how we think. And that starts with the information we take in and cycle back out into our world. We have the power to choose what information we take in on any given day and the power to choose what information we send out to our friends and associates. While the mainstream media may think we mostly want to watch shows that portray dysfunctionality and mainstream press may avoid taking sides when it comes to science and moral values, we can choose to take in information from sources that provide information that helps rather than information that makes things worse and to then talk about that better world information.

And as more of us choose to focus on constructive rather than destructive content, the power of the marketplace will take effect. The Roddenberry Foundation – created by Rod Roddenberry, Gene Roddenberry’s son – recently launched its #BoldlyBetter initiative. The Boldly Better hashtag will be used to help people find information about all the positive, constructive things people and organizations are doing.

I will report more on this initiative in the future. I was at a launch event for this initiative last Saturday…
 

Of course, those who make money keeping us thinking about competition, hate, and fear rather than cooperation, love, and respect won’t be happy we have made this personal choice. But this is how capitalism works. Those who know that people will want something new, offer that new product or service in what one globally best selling business strategy book calls a “blue ocean” (one devoid of competition… not colored red from the blood in the water).

But this new system also starts with how we all - as one human family - think. We tend to think about parts of the system in which we live. A lot of people specialize in one thing or another. But being a generalist is very important if you’re going to see how all of the parts of the world currently fit together… and how they need to fit together if the system is to function in a way that enables us all to have peaceful and prosperous lives.

In his book “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth,” Buckminster Fuller said the most general, “big picture” question we need to ask is “Can the basic survival needs of everyone on Earth be met?” “Can we live in a world of abundance rather than scarcity?” He asked this question because if everyone’s basic needs can be met then the root cause of war… the original reason we started to fight many thousands of years ago… the reason we developed a global culture of separate “tribes” in which it’s okay to kill “the others”… goes away.

And the answer he came up with – from scientific investigation with his good friend Gerard Piel (the founder of Scientific American magazine) – was YES!”

The root cause of war is gone… it’s obsolete.

Engineers see problems as design challenges. And when I think about global peace and prosperity, I ask myself “What kind of social system design – one based on abundance rather than scarcity thinking – could we have?” It’s one heck of an innovation question… and one I think it’s time for us to answer.

Fifty years ago, Star Trek gave us a vision of what humanity would be doing once that answer was found. It’s a vision that inspired a lot of people then and one I believe can inspire a lot of people today.

The Guardian published a generally positive story about Star Trek’s vision this past Sunday. However, this article quotes the author Mark A. Altman, who recently wrote The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete Uncensored & Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek, as “(doubting) whether Roddenberry’s vision still appeals today”. They quote Altman as saying

“For a genre in which dystopian futures and space pulp dominate, one has to wonder whether the thoughtful, cerebral, kinder, gentle Star Trekkian ethos still has a chance to engage and excite new viewers – particularly in light of the tepid box-office reception to the most recent Star Trek [film].” “In the age of political polarisation – in which the echo chamber of social media reinforces one’s own stringent (and often strident) beliefs, in which social discourse has given way to online screaming matches, in which no one bothers to even try and accept the reasoned opinions of others – it’s even harder to believe that the Star Trek future, in which the family of man has transcended its petty differences, is viable.”

I think Star Trek's vision definitely does have appeal today, as a visionary pull for those of us who have hope things can get better because of what we have learned from people like Bucky Fuller… but also for those who are attracted to that future enough to go looking for the answer to the question “Can it happen for real?”

I am thrilled CBS is launching a new Star Trek series! And one reason is that Bryan Fuller, its Executive Producer, gets that we're in very challenging times. In fact, at the recent San Diego ComicCon, he called on all Star Trek fans to become more than fans. He called on us to creatively seek ways to bring Gene Roddenberry's vision into reality today...
 

So, we have the creative head of the new series urging Star Trek fans on. And I have to imagine that the show itself will be a big help for that reason. And we have the #BoldlyBetter initiative of the Roddenberry Foundation and the work of lots of other creative optimists out there like me.

 Live Long And Prosper, Star Trek. Happy 50th Birthday!

Steve Brant promotes The World Of Our Dreams at Star Trek Mission New York

Steve Brant, Project Director & Chief Designer of The World Of Our Dreams, promoted his plans to launch the organization at Star Trek Mission New York, September 2-4, at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in NYC.

Here's the video Steve filmed for when he was away from the booth, so his booth teammates could have him there in spirit (the titles and end credits were added today, so the video can be used more widely)..

The convention was a huge success for this new project. Stay tuned for further news of the results from those three days...

Native New Yorker inspired as a child by the UN seeks to realize the dream of World Peace.
Star Trek 50th Anniversary Convention is public launch of Phase 1 of The World Of Our Dreams

Contact Steve Brant, Project Founder & Chief Designer, for interviews as well as participation & investment information. Steve will be at the convention all three days and is based in NYC.

The World Of Our Dreams is a not-for-profit, 501c3 organization under development whose purpose will be to teach people, businesses & governments how to bring about a future of peace and prosperity for all, where humanity is primarily engaged in exploring new worlds.


Buckminster Fuller envisioned this future in his 1968 book, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth.

Background:

"When I first read Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth in 1979, I learned that all of human society was set up based on the belief that "there isn't enough for everyone" ... and that scientific advancement had made that belief obsolete starting in the mid-1960s.  This spectacularly important landmark had gone largely unreported, despite the best efforts of Buckminster Fuller, his friend Gerard Piel (the founder of Scientific American), and others to get the word out. I couldn't believe this wasn't front page news!", says Steve Brant, Project Founder & Chief Designer of The World Of Our Dreams.

"Realizing that the root cause of war - scarcity of resources - the fundamental reason people started fighting in the beginning of human history was obsolete awakened my childhood dream of a world at peace. That dream had begun with a class trip to the UN that I took at age seven.  Twenty-one years later, I suddenly saw that this dream could become a reality! And so began a many years long quest to find a way to help make this happen."

"In these increasingly challenging times, I am more determined than ever to contribute my years of experience in the field of sustainable international development - what sustainability pioneers William McDonough and Michael Braungart call The Next Industrial Revolution - to the public dialogue. But I'm going to go beyond where their work goes."

"In addition to the challenge of how humanity relates to Mother Earth, The World Of Our Dreams will address the challenge of how humanity relates to itself! I believe the vision of Star Trek - of humanity using its energies and resources to boldly explore new worlds because it is finally at peace with itself - can be a huge help in this process. And I am working to get the necessary permissions from CBS Consumer Products, so Star Trek can be part of the educational programs The World Of Our Dreams offers in some appropriate way."

"Speculative fiction has helped power the imagination of people throughout history, encouraging some to pursue the achievement of those fictional realities for real. In my 2012 presentation on achieving a world beyond war, I mentioned that the entertainment industry has helped teach the public new knowledge a number of times. The First Motion Picture Unit (led by Jack Warner of Warner Bros.), Walt Disney's partnership with Wernher von Braun, and the SciFi Channel's Visions for Tomorrow project are just some of the times when Hollywood has helped make the world a better place."

"With The World Of Our Dreams, I intend to follow in that tradition... turning the public away from today's hate and fear-based sociopolitical economic dynamic to one based on optimism and "love thy neighbor"... with Hollywood's help. In a world where abundance has replaced scarcity as the foundation of how we think, that new direction is possible!"

"The World Of Our Dreams will ultimately help catalyze the design of a new system of human relations at the local, state, national, and international level... chart a course for the adoption of that new design... and be a leader in seeing that that new design is implemented."

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."
- R. Buckminster Fuller



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Steve Brant will be available for interviews all three days of the upcoming Star Trek: Mission New York convention at the Javits Convention Center, September 2-4.
The World Of Our Dreams will be at Booth 344 in the Exhibit Hall.  Interviews can also be scheduled both prior to and after the convention. Contact Steve here.

Biography of Steve Brant:

1955 - Born in NYC
1962 - Class trip to the UN
1966 - 1969 - Watched Star Trek: The Original Series. (All future series and films)
1976 - Graduated Cum Laude with B.S. in Civil Engineering from UMass - Amherst
1976 - Began working for the US Army Corps of Engineers
1979 - 1984 - Studied Buckminster Fuller's work. Met Bucky in 1983.

1980 - Founding board member, New York CitiWorks, Inc a 501c3 organization
1985 - Began working for the NYC Department of Transportation
1991 - 1999 - Studied W. Edwards Deming's management philosophy. Corresponded with him.
1995 - 2009 - Studied Russell L. Ackoff's management philosophy. Mentored by Russ for 10 yrs
1992 - 1994 - Led NYC Community Quality Council Project

1992 - 1993 - Team member NYState Quality Council Project
1993 - 1996 - Participant, President's Council on Sustainable Development

1995 - UN at 50 exhibitor, Washington, DC
1996 - Launched Trimtab Management Systems
1997 - Explored creation of Star Trek-themed training & development project with Viacom

1999 - Organized panel on advanced international development principle, International Development Conference (IDC) Global Meeting of Generations, Washington, DC
1999 - Star Trek-themed scenario planning workshop (experimental) at Star Trek: The Experience
2002 - UN Global Compact Performance Improvement Model team
2004 - Founding board member, Keystone Alliance for Performance Excellence
2005 - Began blogging on The Huffington Post
2006 - International development conversation with Joseph Stiglitz, Tom Friedman, Ted Koppel
2007 - Future of the UN Global Compact/CSR movement presentation, Baruch College, NYC
2008 - "Capitalism Is Dead. Now What Do We Do?" published in The Huffington Post
2009 - Memorial essay to Russ Ackoff published in The Huffington Post
2010 - Pro-Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) essay in The Huffington Post
2011 - Interviewed by William Shatner for his "Get a Life!" documentary about Star Trek fans
2011 - 100Year StarShip project proposal team member
2012 - 100Year StarShip symposium presentation
2016 - The World Of Our Dreams - Project Founder & Chief Designer